Hubbry Logo
Laura GilpinLaura GilpinMain
Open search
Laura Gilpin
Community hub
Laura Gilpin
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Laura Gilpin
Laura Gilpin
Laura Gilpin
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Laura Gilpin (April 22, 1891 – November 30, 1979)[1] was an American photographer.

Key Information

Gilpin is known for her photographs of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Pueblo, and Southwestern landscapes. Gilpin began taking photographs as a child in Colorado and formally studied photography in New York from 1916 to 1917 before returning to her home in Colorado to begin her career as a professional photographer.[2]

Life

[edit]

Gilpin was the daughter of Frank Gilpin and Emma Miller. Frank was a cattle rancher from Philadelphia, while Emma grew up in St. Louis and Chicago. Although Emma moved to Colorado to be with her husband, she longed for the more cultured surroundings of big cities. When Gilpin was born, her parents had to travel to a home in Austin Bluffs, some 65 miles (105 km) from their ranch at Horse Creek because this was the location that was closest to a doctor. As this was her first child Mrs. Gilpin wanted to ensure the safety of her daughter in any way possible.[2]

Gilpin enjoyed exploring the outdoors as a child, and her father encouraged her to go camping and hiking in the Colorado landscape.[3] Gilpin's father took several jobs during her childhood, and in 1902 he moved to Durango, Mexico to manage a mine. Several months after he moved there Gilpin's mother joined him, leaving their two children (Laura and her brother) in the care of the directors of Gilpin's school, Mr. and Mrs. William Stark.[2]

In 1903, for her twelfth birthday, Gilpin received a Kodak Brownie Camera (and later received a developing tank for Christmas). Gilpin used this camera incessantly for several years. She considered the year 1904 to be a very important point in her life. During this year, Gilpin's mother sent her to visit her closest friend and Gilpin's namesake, Laura Perry, in St. Louis. Gilpin was there during the great Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Perry was blind, and it was Gilpin's task to describe every exhibit to her in detail. They visited the fair every other day for a month, and she later said "The experience taught me the kind of observation I would have never learned otherwise."[4]

Rancho de Taos Mission, New Mexico

Gilpin's mother encouraged her at an early age to study music, and she was educated at eastern boarding schools, including the New England Conservatory of Music, from 1904 to 1908. On her first trip to the East her mother took her to New York to have her portrait taken by well-known photographer Gertrude Käsebier. Later when she decided to become a photographer, Gilpin asked Käsebier to be her mentor. Over the years they developed a lifelong friendship.

When family finances declined, Gilpin left school and returned to Colorado. She enjoyed exploring the outdoors, and she would often visit General William Jackson Palmer, who took her horseback riding and walking around the surrounding areas of their home. On these excursions Palmer would teach the Gilpin about the plants, animals, and other wildlife that they would encounter, laying the foundation for her passion for the landscape, which would become the subject of many of her photographs.[2]

In an attempt to support her growing interest in photography, Gilpin started a business raising turkeys at her family's ranch. Her poultry business was widely successful and was featured in a Denver newspaper in 1913.[2] She was able to use the proceeds from raising turkeys to fund trips to the East Coast to further her skills in photography. While she formally studied photography on the East Coast, Gilpin worked on her autochrome skills whenever possible from home as well. She photographed everything from her chickens and turkeys to her brother and the landscape. She eventually sold the turkey operation and continued to push her photography career forward.[2]

In 1916 she moved to New York to study photography, but she returned to Colorado Springs in 1918 after becoming seriously ill from influenza. Her mother hired a nurse, Elizabeth Warham Forster "Betsy", to care for her. Gilpin and Forster became friends and, later, companions.[5] Gilpin frequently photographed Forster during the more than fifty years they were together, sometimes placing her in scenes with other people as though she were part of a tableau she happened to come upon.[6] They remained together, with occasional separations necessitated by available jobs, until Forster's death in 1972.[7] After Gilpin recovered she opened her own commercial photography studio in Colorado Springs. In 1924 the Pictorial Photographers of America awarded Gilpin her first New York show.[8]

Evergreen Cemetery, Laura Gilpin

In 1924, Gilpin's mother died and she was left to care for her father who continued to move from job to job. Between 1942 and 1944 she lived in Wichita, Kansas, where she worked for the Boeing Company photographing airplanes.[9] She left there in 1944, shortly after her father's death, and returned to her beloved Colorado. She continued working and photography throughout the Southwest until her death in 1979. Gilpin is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs. Elizabeth "Betsy" Warham Forster (1886-1972) is buried in the same cemetery, albeit in a different plot.

Education and career as a photographer

[edit]

Gilpin made her earliest dated autochrome in 1908 when she was 17 years old.[4] This photography technique had only become widely available that year, which is a testament to Gilpin's early dedication to photography. In 1915, she traveled to the Panama–California Exposition in San Diego and the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco expositions as a companion for a friend of her mother's. At these expositions, Gilpin developed an interest in sculpture, architecture, and native cultures.[10] She later recalled that "There was practically no art interest in Colorado Springs in those early days...I remember Harvey Young was the only painter in town and I don't think there was a sculptor. I knew nothing about sculpture."[2] Gilpin took a large quantity of photographs here, some of which became the first she had published. Her photograph of the Cloister at the San Diego Exposition became her first prize-winning photograph. She won a monthly competition that was sponsored by American Photography magazine in May 1916.

What interested Gilpin about architecture and sculpture was the way light interacted with the three-dimensional forms. Beginning in 1916, Gilpin lived with Brenda Putnam, a sculptor who was living, sculpting, and teaching in New York City at the time. Their time as roommates was the beginning of what would become a lifelong friendship for Gilpin and Putnam, who supported each other's work and discussed art often. Gilpin studied sculpture with Putnam, and would often photograph her works.[2] The two artists stayed in close contact even after Gilpin left New York for Colorado and New Mexico.

When Gilpin decided she wanted to seriously study photography, her mentor Gertrude Käsebier advised her to attend the Clarence White School in New York City. She enrolled in a 28-week course in October 1916, and greatly expanded her photographic knowledge and skill. She deeply admired White, whom she later called "one of the greatest teachers I have ever known in any field".[2] White believed that while taking a good photograph involved an investment in emotional feeling, a student could also be taught to take a good photograph. For White, being a good photographer was not something that was innate.[2] White also did not separate the notion of art photography and commercial photography. At the Clarence White School, Gilpin learned about photographic processes and alternative printing methods, including platinum printing, a process she would work with throughout her career.[11]

Gilpin spent the summer following her first school year at Clarence White School in Colorado Springs and then moved back to New York in the Fall of 1917. Shortly after, she contracted influenza and was unable to take photos for six months. She came under the care of Elizabeth Forster, a nurse, who became her lifelong friend and companion. When she was well again she began working and taking photos again but never went back to school, and her period of formal study of art came to an end.

As Gilpin began her professional career in 1918 she received much support from her parents.[2] The subject matter of her early works included portraits of acquaintances and landscapes local to Colorado Springs. Laura joined a circle of artists in Colorado Springs that were associated with the Broadmoor Art Academy in 1919. Gilpin produced photographic brochures for the school. During this time, Gilpin's primary source of work was printing platinum portraits of local people who preferred the cost of photographs to having their portraits painted. In an attempt to focus on the natural spirit of her sitters, Gilpin preferred to use more relaxed poses and relied on soft natural light for these portraits. Laura spent 1920-1921 studying portrait sculpture in New York with Brenda Putnam in an attempt to improve her portrait photographs.

While Gilpin did submit still lifes and portraits to exhibitions and competitions, the larger part of Gilpin's success stemmed from the popularity of her western landscape photographs.[2] Her interest in the western landscape originated with her upbringing in Colorado Springs, but was expanded when she stopped in Santa Fe on the way to Mexico with her father and visited the Museum of New Mexico.

In 1922, Gilpin made a trip to Europe that later impacted her work. After this trip she began to respect and experiment more with sharp-focused photography, and became interested in creating photographic books after encountering the work of William Blake. Her experiences in Europe also expanded her knowledge of art and art history, and helped to solidify her identity as a western American individual. This experience with self-identification furthered her interest in the western landscape. Her work was enhanced by visits to the Navajo reservation in Red Rock Arizona where Elizabeth Forster had taken a job as a public health nurse.[12]

Gilpin is considered to be one of the great platinum printing photographers, and many of her platinum prints are now in museums around the world. She said "I have always loved the platinum printing process. It's the most beautiful image one can get. It has the longest scale and one can get the greatest degree of contrast. It's not a difficult process; it just takes time."

Over a thirty-year period from 1945 to 1975 her work was seen in more than one hundred one-person and group exhibits. Gilpin's work is archived at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

She continued to be very active as a photographer and as a participant in the Santa Fe arts scene until her death in 1979.

Gilpin's photographic and literary archives are now housed at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

Honors and awards

[edit]
  • 1929: Ten of Gilpin's photographs are purchased by the Library of Congress.[8]
  • 1930: Gilpin is elected Associate of Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain.[8]
  • 1958: Became chairman of the Indian Arts Fund, Santa Fe.[8]
  • 1966: Honored by St. John's College as a professional photographer.[8]
  • 1967: Awarded Certificate of Appreciation for work in the field of Indian Arts by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Elected an honorary life member of the board of directors at the School of American Research.[8]
  • 1969: Won Western Heritage Award, The Enduring Navaho given First Award, 17th Annual Competition.[8]
  • 1970: Awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the University of New Mexico, Given the 1970 Headline Award, Albuquerque Professional Chapter, Theta Sigma Phi Society for Women in Journalism and Communications, Given award of "Hidalgo de Calificada Nobles" for service to the state of New Mexico, Appointed Colonel, Aide-de-Camp, to Governor David Cargo of New Mexico.[8]
  • 1971: Awarded Research Grant by School of American Research for work toward major photographic study of Canyon de Chelly, Presented First fine Arts Award by Industrial Photographers of the Southwest.[8]
  • 1972: Given Brotherhood Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews.[8]
  • 1974: Presented First Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts in New Mexico.[8]
  • 2012; Inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame[13]

Publications

[edit]
  • The Pueblos: A Camera Chronicle, Hastings house, 1941
  • Temples in Yucatán: A Camera Chronicle of Hichen Itza, Hastings House, 1948
  • The Rio Grande: River of Destiny, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949
  • The Enduring Navaho. University of Texas Press. 1987. ISBN 978-0-292-72058-9.
  • The early work of Laura Gilpin, 1917-1932. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. 1981. reprint Jerry Richardson, ed. (2005). Laura Gilpin: the early work. Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd.
  • Land Beyond Maps, 2009 is an historical novel about Laura Gilpin's experience photographing the Navajo people
  • The Mesa Verde National Park: Reproductions from a Series of Photographs by Laura Gilpin, Colorado Springs: Gilpin Publishing Company, 1927
  • "Historic Architecture Photography: The Southwest," The Complete Photographer. Vol. 6, pp. 1986–94
  • Chapter on Portraiture in Graphic Graflex Photography, 1945
  • Gilpin, Laura, and Martha A. Sandweiss. Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace:[produced in Conjunction with... an Exhibition Organized by the Amon Carter Museum... January 24 – April 13, 1986...]. Amon Carter Museum, 1986

Individual and honor exhibitions

[edit]
  • 1918: Clarence H. White School, New York. Honorable Mention at Joan of Arc Statue Competition. Camera Club Galleries, New York.[8]
  • 1920: Pictorial Photographers of America Traveling Exhibition (circulated by American Federation of Arts). London Salon of Photography (and touring show).[8]
  • 1924: Pictorial Photographers of America Invitational One-Man Show, New York. Baltimore Photographic Club.[8]
  • 1933: Denver Art Museum. Century of Progress Worlds Fair, Chicago.[8]
  • 1934: Library of Congress, Washington D.C. The Taylor Museum for Southwestern Studies, Colorado Springs. American Museum of Natural History Invitational One-Man Show. American Museum of Natural History, New York.[8]
  • 1935: Madrid International Salon, Spain. Beacon School, Wellesley, Massachusetts.[8]
  • 1956: American Museum of Natural History, New York.[8]
  • 1957: Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe. George Eastman House, Rochester, New York. Stillwater, Oklahoma.[8]
  • 1966: St. John's College, Santa Fe 50th Anniversary Exhibition.[8]
  • 1968: The Rio Grand: River of the Arid Land., Museum of Albuquerque. The Enduring Navaho, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art Fort Worth, Texas.[8]
  • 1969: West Texas Museum, Texas Technological College, Lubbock. Photographs in Communication from the Reservation, Exhibition on Indian art and life, Riverside Museum, New York.[8]
  • 1970: Retrospective 1923-1968, Exhibition of Photographs of Indian Culture of the Southwest and Yucatán, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe. Oklahoma City Art Museum[8]
  • 1971: St. John's College, Santa Fe.[8]
  • 1973: Witkin Gallery, New York.[8]
  • 1974: Major Retrospective Exhibition honoring 70 years in photography, Fine Arts Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, and national tour sponsored by Western Association of Art Museums.[8]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Laura Gilpin

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Laura Gilpin (April 22, 1891 – November 30, 1979) was an American photographer best known for her pioneering work documenting the landscapes and cultures of the American Southwest, including the and Pueblo peoples, over a career spanning more than six decades. Born on a near , she developed an early interest in at age 12 when she received a camera, which she used to capture images at the 1904 in . Her work emphasized the enduring beauty and cultural resilience of the region, often employing the labor-intensive platinum printing process to achieve subtle tonal qualities that highlighted the interplay of light and shadow in arid terrains. Gilpin's formal education in photography began in 1916 at the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York City, where she studied under the influential Pictorialist photographer Clarence H. White after initially pursuing music at institutions like the New England Conservatory in Boston. Returning to Colorado in 1918 due to the Spanish influenza pandemic, she established a portrait and architectural studio in Colorado Springs and began freelancing, gradually shifting her focus to the Southwest after a chance encounter with Navajo communities during a 1930 road trip. During World War II, she served as chief photographer and publicity director for Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas, before settling permanently in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1946, where she continued her fieldwork into her eighties, including a final trip to the Navajo Nation in 1972. Her most notable publications include The Pueblos: A Camera Chronicle (1941), which chronicled life; Temples in Yucatan (1948) and The Rio Grande: River of Destiny (1949), exploring Mesoamerican ruins and the river's cultural significance; and her seminal work The Enduring Navaho (1968), a comprehensive photographic essay on traditions praised for its empathetic portrayal of indigenous endurance. lauded her as possessing a "highly individualistic eye," and her archive of over 27,000 negatives and 20,000 prints was bequeathed to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art upon her death. Gilpin received numerous honors, including the New Mexico Excellence in the Arts Award (1974), the Colorado Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities (1977), and an honorary doctorate from the (1970), cementing her legacy as one of the foremost women photographers of the twentieth century.

Early Life and Education

Early Life

Laura Gilpin was born on April 22, 1891, in Austin Bluffs, , a just north of Colorado Springs, to Frank Gilpin, a cattle rancher originally from , and Emma Gosler Miller Gilpin, who had grown up in urban environments in and before moving to . As the first child of the family, Gilpin was raised on her father's ranch, immersing her in the rugged landscapes and ranching life of from an early age. Her father's work as a rancher exposed her to the vast open spaces and natural beauty of , while her mother's artistic inclinations and emphasis on independence encouraged creative pursuits, fostering Gilpin's deep appreciation for the region's scenery and rural rhythms. Gilpin's childhood was marked by exploratory adventures, including horseback rides through the countryside with local figures like General , the founder of Colorado Springs, which further honed her observational skills and connection to the land. At age 12, in 1903, her father gifted her a camera for her birthday, igniting her passion for photography; she quickly began experimenting with it, capturing her first images during a family trip to the 1904 in . To fund her growing interest and early photographic supplies, Gilpin launched a successful turkey farming venture on the family ranch around 1913, raising chicks, developing custom feed, and selling the birds locally, an endeavor highlighted in a newspaper for its ingenuity. A pivotal emotional turning point came in 1927 with the death of her mother, Emma, which left Gilpin as the primary emotional support for her aging father amid his shifting jobs and deepening isolation. Earlier, in 1918, during a severe bout of Spanish influenza that forced her return from New York, her mother had hired nurse Elizabeth "Betsy" Warham Forster to care for her, initiating a profound and lifelong companionship between the two women that provided Gilpin with unwavering personal stability. These formative experiences in her rural upbringing laid the groundwork for her artistic vision, though she soon transitioned to formal photographic training in New York.

Formal Education

Encouraged by her mother, Gilpin attended several eastern boarding schools, including in and Rosemary Hall in , before enrolling for one year around 1910 at the in to study . Although she found parallels between and in their artistic expression, she ultimately pursued the latter professionally. Gilpin demonstrated early technical proficiency in photography by producing some of the earliest autochrome plates in 1908, at the age of 17, utilizing the newly available color process that marked a significant advancement in her amateur pursuits. This achievement was followed in 1915 by her first major recognition, when her photograph won a prize at the Panama-California Exposition in , highlighting her emerging talent in capturing architectural subjects. With encouragement from family support in her formative years, Gilpin transitioned to structured training, influenced by key figures such as General , the founder of Colorado Springs, whose interactions introduced her to outdoor exploration and reinforced her interest in documenting the natural world. Seeking professional development, Gilpin moved to New York in 1916 to attend the Clarence H. White School of Photography, where she studied for one year until 1917. There, she trained under founder Clarence H. White, absorbing pictorialist principles of composition, lighting, and artistic expression alongside practical commercial techniques. Her decision to enroll was guided by the mentorship of , a pioneering photographer whom Gilpin met as a teenager; Käsebier not only provided early encouragement but also specifically recommended the White School to refine Gilpin's skills. Following her studies, Gilpin returned to in 1918 after contracting during the , prompting a shift back to her home state to recover. Upon recuperation, she established a professional studio in Colorado Springs, focusing on portraiture and architectural work while integrating into the local art community at Art Academy. In 1922, she undertook a brief trip to accompanied by sculptor Brenda Putnam, a close associate whose companionship fostered artistic exchanges; this journey exposed Gilpin to classical art and architecture, inspiring a gradual in her approach toward sharper, more direct photographic focus.

Professional Career

Early Career and Influences

Following her studies at the Clarence H. White School of Photography, Laura Gilpin returned to Colorado Springs in 1918 and established a commercial studio focused on pictorialist-style landscapes and portraits of local residents. Her early professional output emphasized soft-focused, atmospheric images that evoked emotional depth, drawing from the artistic principles she absorbed during her training. This studio served as the foundation for her independent practice, where she balanced artistic pursuits with practical commissions to sustain her work. Gilpin's early style was profoundly shaped by the movement, which prioritized photography as a akin to , and by her growing fascination with the American Southwest. Starting in the mid-1920s, she began visiting Native American communities, including and reservations, as well as ancient Southwestern sites, capturing the harmony between people and their landscapes in a respectful, documentary manner. These experiences marked a pivotal shift, infusing her work with themes of cultural endurance and natural beauty that would define her oeuvre. Key milestones in her early career included her first one-person exhibition in 1924, organized by the Pictorial Photographers of America in New York, which showcased her evolving pictorialist approach to national audiences. Between 1918 and 1945, she participated in over 100 exhibitions across the , building her reputation as a pioneering female photographer in a male-dominated field. Economically, Gilpin faced significant hurdles, self-funding her artistic endeavors through portrait commissions and teaching gigs, particularly during the , which strained her ability to maintain an independent practice amid widespread financial instability. Despite these challenges, her determination allowed her to persist, using commercial work to subsidize trips and projects that advanced her personal vision.

Mid-Career Developments

In the , Laura Gilpin shifted from her early pictorialist influences toward a more straightforward documentary style, emphasizing the authentic lives and landscapes of the American Southwest. This evolution was driven by extensive travels to and communities, where she sought to capture their cultural resilience amid rapid changes. Beginning in 1930, after a chance encounter near , Gilpin made repeated visits to the Navajo Reservation, particularly to Red Rock, Arizona, between and , documenting daily activities, traditional dwellings, and social rituals with an intent to preserve these elements against narratives of cultural extinction. Her work during this period highlighted the enduring aspects of Native American life, contrasting with more romanticized depictions by contemporaries. Gilpin's key projects in the late 1930s and early centered on collaborative efforts for cultural documentation, including preparations for her seminal publication The Pueblos: A Camera Chronicle (1941). She conducted in-depth research among communities, compiling photographs and textual narratives that chronicled their architectural and social heritage, with drafts and layouts developed in close coordination with publisher Hastings House. Concurrently, she engaged with the Indian Arts Fund, contributing to initiatives aimed at acquiring and preserving Native American artifacts, which informed her photographic focus on cultural continuity. This period also saw her deepening partnership with Elizabeth Forster, a field nurse whose position on the Reservation facilitated Gilpin's access to intimate community settings and joint fieldwork, including early collaborations that shaped later publications like Denizens of the Desert. The onset of marked a temporary pivot in Gilpin's career, as she relocated to , in 1942 to serve as chief photographer and publicity director for the Boeing Aircraft Company, a role she held until 1944. There, she applied her skills to industrial documentation, including aerial photography of B-29 bombers and assembly processes, which introduced her to new technical approaches while supporting the war effort. This wartime interlude integrated with her personal life, as she maintained her bond with Forster amid the disruptions. After the war, in 1945, the pair relocated to the Santa Fe area in , where Gilpin could resume her Southwest-focused work in a more permanent base, influenced by the region's cultural proximity to her ongoing Native American projects.

Later Career

Following , Laura Gilpin returned to independent photography in 1945, establishing a residence in , to pursue her longstanding interests in Southwestern landscapes and Native American portraits. She continued this focus through the 1970s, producing images that emphasized the harmony between people and their environments in the American Southwest. A key project during this period was her extensive documentation of the River, which she began in 1945 and completed after traveling more than 27,000 miles from the river's headwaters in the of to its mouth at the . This effort, conducted independently after her wartime role as chief photographer for Aircraft, resulted in photographs capturing the river's cultural and natural significance, culminating in her 1949 book The Rio Grande: River of Destiny, where she contributed both images and text. Paralleling this, Gilpin resumed her in-depth studies of the people starting in 1950, building on earlier work to create an intimate visual record of their lives and landscapes over nearly two decades. These efforts led to her seminal 1968 publication The Enduring Navaho, featuring over 100 photographs accompanied by her personal reflections on Navajo culture and resilience. In her final years, Gilpin's activity diminished due to advancing age, though she maintained her status as a respected figure in photography during the 1970s, with a slackened but still productive schedule. She began preparing her archive for preservation, donating materials to institutions including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Gilpin died on November 30, 1979, at St. Vincent Hospital in , at the age of 88. Upon her death, she bequeathed her extensive photographic estate—comprising approximately 27,000 negatives and over 20,000 prints, along with papers and her personal library—to the Amon Carter Museum.

Photographic Style and Themes

Techniques and Pictorialism

Laura Gilpin's photographic practice was deeply rooted in the movement, which emphasized artistic interpretation and emotional resonance over literal documentation, allowing her to infuse landscapes and portraits with a poetic, painterly quality. Influenced by mentors like Clarence H. White, she employed soft-focus techniques in her early work to evoke atmosphere and mood, often printing on textured papers to mimic the brushstrokes of paintings. This approach aligned with Pictorialist ideals of elevating to , as seen in her textured platinum prints from the that prioritized tonal subtlety and compositional harmony. By the 1930s, Gilpin evolved toward a sharper, more documentary style, reflecting broader shifts in away from Pictorialist manipulation toward precise representation, though she retained an artistic sensibility in her compositions. This transition marked a departure from the gauzy, romantic effects of her initial phase, enabling clearer depiction of subjects while maintaining her focus on tonal depth and narrative intent. Her expertise in printing was central to achieving this, as the process produced prints with exceptional range—from delicate highlights to rich shadows— prized for their archival stability and subtle gradations that enhanced pictorial effects. Gilpin hand-coated her and papers with substances like or to fine-tune contrast, hue, and luster, a labor-intensive method documented in her notebooks and verified through spectroscopic analysis of works such as A String of Peppers and . In her early career, she also utilized gum bichromate processes, which allowed for layered color and texture in prints, further aligning with Pictorialist experimentation. Among her innovations, Gilpin adopted the autochrome process as early as 1908, at age 17, creating some of the first color photographs using this starch-grain technique, which captured subtle hues through a of grains dyed in red, green, and blue. This early foray into color demonstrated her forward-thinking approach, predating widespread adoption and showcasing her self-taught mastery of complex chemistry. Additionally, her experience as publicity director at the aircraft plant during introduced her to aerial viewpoints, influencing later oblique perspectives in her landscape work that offered dynamic, elevated compositions blending technical precision with artistic vision. Throughout her career, Gilpin favored large-format cameras, such as 8x10 view cameras, which provided the high resolution essential for her detailed contact prints and enabled meticulous control over . She personally hand-crafted her exhibition prints, often mounting and toning them to ensure aesthetic consistency, a practice that underscored her commitment to the print as the final artwork.

Landscapes and Native American Portraits

Laura Gilpin's landscape photography centered on the American Southwest, capturing the , vast , and ancient ruins to evoke themes of harmony between human presence and the enduring natural environment. In her 1949 book Rio Grande: River of Destiny, she documented the river's full 1,800-mile course from to the , highlighting its role in sustaining communities through agriculture and irrigation amid a severe two-year , thereby illustrating the precarious yet resilient interplay of and life. Her images of desert expanses and prehistoric sites, such as the romanticized views of taken in the 1920s with soft-focus Pictorialist lenses, emphasized the timeless endurance of these formations against human transience. A notable example is her photograph "The City of the Dead" (1925), depicting the at , which portrays ancient stone cliff dwellings as integral to the rugged , symbolizing cultural continuity amid erosion and change. Gilpin's portraits of Native American peoples, particularly the (Diné) and , spanned over 50 years from the to the 1970s, focusing on their dignity and everyday activities while deliberately avoiding exoticized stereotypes. She photographed Navajo shepherds, weavers, and families in candid settings, as seen in her series of the Nakai family in 1950, where individuals stand with an American flag, reflecting political adaptations without diminishing their . Among the , her images of San Ildefonso potters and the renowned artist María Martínez at work underscore the skill and routine of traditional crafts, portraying subjects with direct eye contact to convey personal strength and humanity. In works like The Summer Shelter of Old Lady Long Salt, Gilpin blended portraiture with environmental context, showing an elderly Navajo woman in her traditional amid the reservation's arid terrain, emphasizing over abstraction. These portraits, numbering in the hundreds across her career, consistently integrated influences—such as clothing or modern goods—to depict authentic daily life rather than isolation. Gilpin approached her subjects with , fostering collaborations that allowed access and mutual respect, driven by her intent to document and preserve indigenous traditions threatened by modernization and U.S. government policies. Through her long-term partnership with Elizabeth Forster, a nurse who worked among the from the , Gilpin gained to remote communities, crediting Forster for enabling her early portraits during field visits. She often compensated subjects monetarily or provided prints, and in later years consulted Diné individuals for accuracy in representing their worldview and land connections, as evident in her 1968 publication The Enduring Navaho, which covered life on the 25,000-square-mile reservation home to over 100,000 people. This ethical stance critiqued colonial disruptions while advocating for sovereignty through visual storytelling. Her work evolved from early romanticized depictions in the 1910s and 1920s, influenced by expositions and staged "types," to more empathetic, documentary-style records by mid-century that prioritized realism and individual narratives. Initial portraits and landscapes, such as those of staged figures, reflected a Euro-American idealization of the "vanishing" West, but by the 1930s, deepened friendships and repeated visits shifted her focus to unposed scenes of resilience, as in her series from 1931 to 1968. This progression aligned with broader photographic trends toward authenticity, yet retained her commitment to harmony between people and place, ensuring her images served as enduring testaments to Southwestern indigenous endurance.

Publications

Major Books

Laura Gilpin's major books represent her lifelong dedication to documenting the American Southwest through photography and narrative, combining her images with textual insights to chronicle cultural and natural landscapes. Her first significant publication, The Pueblos: A Camera Chronicle (1941), features over 100 photographs capturing the architecture, daily life, and environments of communities in the Southwest, from valley dwellings to mountaintop residences, accompanied by Gilpin's own text that provides historical and cultural context. Published by Hastings House, the 124-page volume blends with documentary intent, offering a visual and written exploration of Pueblo heritage that emphasizes the harmony between people and their arid surroundings. Gilpin's next major work, Temples in Yucatan: A Camera Chronicle of (1948), published by Hastings House, comprises 124 pages with 101 photographs of the ancient Mayan ruins, illustrating the architectural splendor and enduring legacy of through detailed views of temples, carvings, and landscapes. Accompanied by her narrative on the historical and cultural significance of these Mesoamerican sites, the volume employs her signature tonal techniques to capture the interplay of light and shadow on weathered stone, evoking the mystery and resilience of Mayan civilization. In 1949, Gilpin released The Rio Grande: River of Destiny, a 244-page work published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce that traces the river's course from its origins to the through a mix of aerial and ground-level photographs, illustrating the interplay of water, land, and human settlement along its path. Gilpin's accompanying narrative interprets the river as a shaping force in regional history and , highlighting its role in sustaining diverse landscapes and communities, including Native American and influences. The book underscores her innovative use of to convey scale and destiny, with images drawn from her extensive travels that evoke both grandeur and intimacy. Gilpin's culminating major work, The Enduring Navaho (1968), published by the University of Texas Press, comprises 263 pages with more than 200 photographs documenting life, land, and traditions, paired with her personal reflections on the people's resilience and cultural continuity. This comprehensive study, developed over decades of fieldwork, portrays individual and family portraits alongside vast desert vistas, emphasizing themes of endurance amid modernization. It received the Western Heritage Award from the in 1969 as the outstanding Western nonfiction book of 1968. Throughout her book projects, Gilpin often collaborated with writers to integrate with , such as providing images for Oliver La Farge's The American Indian (1956), where her portraits and landscapes complemented ethnographic narratives. Early editions of her works, including The Pueblos, were supported by her own financial resources, reflecting her commitment to independent production in an era when women photographers faced limited institutional backing. These publications not only preserved vanishing aspects of Southwestern cultures but also established Gilpin as a pioneering chronicler, with her images of landscapes and Native American subjects serving as enduring visual testaments to the region's spirit.

Contributions to Magazines and Other Works

Throughout her career, Laura Gilpin contributed photographs and articles to numerous national and regional magazines, spanning from the 1920s to the 1960s, which helped disseminate her images of Southwestern landscapes and Native American communities to wider audiences. Early examples include "The Art of Laura Gilpin" in The Allied Arts (December 1921), showcasing her pictorialist style, and "Laura Gilpin’s Work" in Camera Craft (September 1922), which highlighted her technical proficiency in platinum printing. In 1926, she published "Dream Pictures of My People" in Art and Archaeology and "A Worker in Light" in The Woman Citizen, both emphasizing her portraits of Pueblo peoples. Later contributions focused on iconic landscapes, such as "Canyon de Chelly" in Arizona Highways (January 1946), featuring her cover image and interior spreads of territory. By the 1960s, profiles like "Laura Gilpin, Fine Arts " in The Santa Fe Scene (November 1960) reflected her established reputation, with the cover and feature pages displaying her mature straight approach. These appearances in over a dozen periodicals, including journals and regional outlets, amplified her role in popularizing Southwestern imagery during the interwar and postwar eras. Beyond magazines, Gilpin produced pamphlets and collaborative projects that extended her visual documentation. In 1927, she self-published a photographic booklet on Mesa Verde National Park, one of her earliest independent efforts to chronicle ancient ruins through images. She also created illustrations for institutional brochures, such as those for the Broadmoor Art Academy (1920–1932), Sandia School (1937–1939), and architect John Gaw Meem (1953), blending promotional photography with artistic composition. Gilpin engaged in anthologies and joint publications, contributing photographs to Powhoge (1967), a collaborative volume with the Institute of American Indian Arts featuring poetry and images of Native themes, and A Portrait of Lincoln (1965) with James Taylor Forrest, pairing her portraits with historical text. Additionally, her work illustrated Embroideries by Rebecca James for the Museum of International (1963) and Woman’s Day (April 1964), showcasing folk art alongside her sensitive depictions of artisans. As a contemporary of writer Mary Austin, Gilpin's travels and imagery in the Southwest paralleled Austin's naturalist explorations, influencing shared representations of the region though direct collaborations remain undocumented in primary records. These shorter-form outputs underscored her versatility in promoting cultural and environmental narratives beyond standalone books.

Exhibitions and Recognition

Key Exhibitions

Gilpin's early exhibitions established her presence in pictorialist circles. In 1918, while studying at the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York, her work was featured in a student show at the school, marking one of her initial public presentations. By 1924, she held her first solo exhibition in New York, organized by the Pictorial Photographers of America, showcasing her emerging style influenced by her mentors. In 1933, the presented a solo exhibition of her photographs, highlighting her landscapes and portraits from the American Southwest. During her mid-career from 1945 to 1975, Gilpin's photographs appeared in over 100 exhibitions across the , including notable venues in and Santa Fe that emphasized her documentation of Native American life and Western landscapes. These shows often included group presentations with fellow pictorialists, underscoring her role in promoting Southwestern themes in . A major milestone came in 1974 with her first comprehensive retrospective, "Laura Gilpin: Retrospective," organized by the Museum of Fine Arts in , which displayed more than 200 prints spanning her 70-year career from 1910 to 1974. This exhibition traveled to other institutions and solidified her legacy. Posthumously, in 1986, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in —to which Gilpin had bequeathed her archive—mounted "An Enduring Grace: The Photographs of Laura Gilpin," a solo from January 24 to April 13, featuring selections from her extensive body of work. Gilpin's contributions also appeared in significant group exhibitions focused on pictorialism and regional themes, such as those organized by the Pictorial Photographers of America in the 1920s and later Southwestern-focused shows that paired her images with other artists documenting Native American cultures.

Awards and Honors

In 1929, ten of Laura Gilpin's photographs were purchased by the Library of Congress, marking an early validation of her work as a pictorialist photographer. The following year, in 1930, she was elected an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, becoming one of the few women to achieve this distinction in an era dominated by male photographers. Also in 1929, Gilpin received a prize from the Pictorial Photographers of America, further affirming her emerging reputation in artistic photography circles. Gilpin's contributions to documenting Native American and Southwestern themes earned her significant mid-career accolades. In 1969, her book The Enduring Navaho received the Western Heritage Award (also known as the Wrangler Award) from the , recognizing its outstanding portrayal of life. She served as chairman of the Indian Arts Fund in Santa Fe from 1958 onward, a role that highlighted her expertise in preserving and promoting Native American arts, culminating in her curation of major collections exhibited at the Museum of . In 1970, the awarded her an honorary degree, honoring her as a pioneer in recognizing as . Later in her career, Gilpin garnered state-level honors that underscored her impact on regional culture. In 1974, she was one of the inaugural recipients of New Mexico's Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, specifically in the category of . The following year, at age 84, she received a , supporting her ongoing documentation of the American Southwest—one of the few such awards granted to a at that time. In 1977, presented her with the Governor's Award in the Arts and Humanities, acknowledging her lifelong dedication to capturing the state's landscapes and peoples. Posthumously, Gilpin's legacy was formalized through induction into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2012, celebrating her as a trailblazing female photographer whose work elevated the visibility of women in the field.

Legacy

Influence on Photography

Laura Gilpin pioneered an empathetic approach to documenting Native American communities, particularly the , through candid portraits that emphasized dignity and cultural continuity rather than exoticism. Her photographs, such as those in The Enduring Navaho (1968), captured individuals in their daily environments with sensitivity, influenced by her access to reservation life via her partner Elizabeth Forster, a field nurse. This method contrasted with earlier romanticized depictions and set a precedent for respectful ethnographic in the Southwest. In , Gilpin's work highlighted the interdependent relationship between people and their environment, portraying the Southwest's arid terrains as integral to cultural survival amid challenges like and government policies. Unlike contemporaries such as , who often depicted empty vistas, Gilpin integrated human elements—Navajo weavers, farmers—to underscore ecological and social bonds, influencing later environmental photography's focus on human impact. Her aerial views and ground-level compositions elevated regional scenes to artistic statements on harmony with nature. Gilpin's legacy extended to inspiring subsequent women photographers, notably Anne Noggle, who credited her as a foundational figure in Southwestern imaging and organized key retrospectives of her work, including the 1975 exhibition at the Museum of New Mexico and the 1976 "Women of Photography: An Historical Survey" at the . By preserving visual histories of and life, Gilpin contributed to a broader archival narrative of Indigenous resilience, aiding cultural preservation efforts in the . Her partnership with Forster also positioned her within queer photographic histories, where personal intimacy informed cross-cultural documentation, as explored in analyses of her series. Gilpin's evolution from Pictorialist soft-focus techniques to a documentary style in the 1930s shifted toward , prioritizing sharp, contextual records over aesthetic and influencing genre-blending approaches in American visual studies. This transition, evident in her portraits and landscape integrations, helped elevate Southwestern from regional curiosity to international acclaim, with her works exhibited globally and recognized for bridging and . Recent scholarship, including 2025 reviews of Louise Siddons's 2024 Good Pictures Are a Strong Weapon: Laura Gilpin, Queerness, and Sovereignty, continues to explore these themes.

Archival Collections and Posthumous Recognition

Upon her death in 1979, Laura Gilpin bequeathed her photographic estate to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, including over 20,000 prints, 27,000 negatives, her personal library collection, and extensive papers spanning her career from 1907 to 1979. The Amon Carter's Laura Gilpin Papers, primarily documenting the 1940s through 1970s, contain correspondence, journals, clippings, financial records, and technical notes on her photographic processes, providing insight into her artistic methods and personal life. Additional holdings of her work are preserved at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, which maintains prints, an oral history interview with Gilpin from 1976, and research materials related to her early career (1917–1932). The Getty Research Institute holds select items, including 13 gelatin silver prints from Gilpin's 1932 and 1946 trips to Yucatán, Mexico, documenting Mayan ruins and local life. Across these institutions, more than 27,000 negatives ensure the long-term preservation and study of her oeuvre, emphasizing her contributions to pictorialist and documentary photography. Posthumous exhibitions have sustained Gilpin's visibility, with major retrospectives highlighting her Southwest landscapes and portraits. The Amon Carter Museum organized "Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace" in 1986, a comprehensive survey of her 70-year career featuring 120 reproductions and traveling to venues including the Museum of Art in 1987. More recent shows include "New Ground: The Southwest of and Laura Gilpin" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 2017, pairing 40 of her vintage prints with ceramics to explore midcentury regional dynamics. These exhibitions, often accompanied by catalogs, have introduced her work to new audiences while underscoring her technical innovations in and silver printing. Gilpin received several honors after her death, reflecting her enduring impact. In 2012, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame for her pioneering role as a female documenting the American Southwest over 55 years. Digital initiatives have further expanded access to her archives; for instance, the Amon Carter Museum's online collection includes digitized prints and papers, while institutions like the host virtual talks and selections from her photographs from the 1920s–1930s. Reissues of her publications, such as the 1986 catalog "Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace" by Martha A. Sandweiss, have kept her writings and images in circulation. Ongoing scholarly interest centers on her Navajo portraits, particularly through lenses of queer theory and sovereignty. Louise Siddons's 2024 book, "Good Pictures Are a Strong Weapon: Laura Gilpin, Queerness, and Navajo Sovereignty," analyzes her 1968 publication "The Enduring Navajo" for its intersections of lesbian identity, visual politics, and Diné self-representation, drawing on her 1931–1968 fieldwork. This work addresses gaps in prior interpretations, emphasizing how Gilpin's empathetic yet colonial gaze navigated Anglo-Navajo relations. Such studies highlight her archive's role in contemporary discussions of photography's ethical dimensions.

References

  1. https://www.nmhistoricwomen.org/new-mexico-historic-women/laura-gilpin/
  2. https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/laura-gilpin/
  3. https://www.arizonahighways.com/article/enduring-photographer
  4. https://libomeka.unm.edu/exhibits/show/aysp/biographies/laura-gilpin
  5. https://www.cspm.org/50-percent/the-city-of-the-dead-laura-gilpin/
  6. https://www.herstory-online.com/single-post/it-was-love
  7. https://webster-enterprises.com/collection/laura-gilpin/
  8. https://tombstone-inscriptions.ppgs.org/WP_names.pdf
  9. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gilpin-laura-1891-1979
  10. https://d2ujpqfu85jxzw.cloudfront.net/website/panth-live/2022-08/Laura_Gilpin_Papers_Finding_Aid_0.pdf
  11. https://www.moma.org/interactives/objectphoto/assets/essays/Yochelson.pdf
  12. https://escholarship.org/content/qt66d7487b/qt66d7487b_noSplash_c95554745fcd29829836af07992ae60a.pdf
  13. https://benningtonmuseum.org/photographs-by-laura-gilpin-and-her-circle-gertrude-kasebier-clarence-h-white-and-clarea-sipprell/
  14. https://elpalacio.org/2017/12/pictures-of-an-evolution/
  15. https://www.shiprocksantafe.com/artists/laura-gilpin
  16. https://nmwa.org/blog/nmwa-exhibitions/new-ground-laura-gilpin/
  17. https://wam.org/whats-on/exhibitions/icons-of-the-midcentury-southwest-photographer-laura-gilpin-and-potter-maria-martinez-august-17-2013-through-january-5-2014/
  18. https://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/exhibitions/lauragilpin/masterworks/lauragilpin.htm
  19. https://www.askart.com/artist/Laura_Gilpin/10020370/Laura_Gilpin.aspx
  20. https://www.cartermuseum.org/artists/laura-gilpin
  21. https://www.margaretlefranc.org/laura-gilpin-bio
  22. https://manifold.umn.edu/read/good-pictures-are-a-strong-weapon
  23. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nm_women_aauw/9/
  24. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/b-29-leaving-hangar-boeing-wichita-kansas-p197912138
  25. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/laura-gilpin-santa-fe-new-mexico-leon-daniel-pix-inc-august-27-1945-a20070690104008011
  26. https://meemlibrary.org/2022/04/27/laura-gilpin-at-st-johns/
  27. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/art/gallery_openings/the-enduring-photographer-laura-gilpin/article_0572f60c-57a4-11e7-bf06-47085a02cc58.html
  28. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/authors-proof-part-3-enduring-navaho-1968-a20070690554003001
  29. https://www.cartermuseum.org/blog/shedding-light-laura-gilpins-photographic-processes-collaboration-between-carter-and-ut-dallas
  30. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/01/archives/laura-gilpin-88-studied-navajos-in-her-photographs-for-40-years.html
  31. https://photographyandvision.wordpress.com/2019/10/14/mondays-photography-inspiration-laura-gilpin/
  32. https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0403/bphoto.html
  33. https://southwestcontemporary.com/laura-gilpin/
  34. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/city-dead-cliff-palace-p1979125501
  35. https://historyinsantafe.com/laura-gilpin/
  36. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_pueblos.html?id=lrYgAAAAMAAJ
  37. https://www.biblio.com/book/pueblos-camera-chronicle-gilpin-laura/d/1601094892
  38. https://www.worldcat.org/title/191537
  39. https://www.midwaybook.com/pages/books/71036/laura-gilpin/temples-in-yucatan
  40. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/americas/article/rio-grande-river-of-destiny-by-laura-gilpin-new-york-duell-sloan-and-pearce-1949-pp-xii-244-600/3B489A5A7B99AEF2821B603E4D5E8D93
  41. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26552569-the-rio-grande
  42. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Enduring_Navaho.html?id=4cO3xwEACAAJ
  43. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/633410.The_Enduring_Navaho
  44. https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/collections/awards/wha/the-enduring-navaho/
  45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/jj.7013086
  46. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/images-from-americas-library/about-this-exhibition/portraits/laura-gilpin-mrs-francis-nakai/
  47. https://kids.kiddle.co/Laura_Gilpin
  48. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/laura-gilpin-colorado-springs-colorado-donald-baer-denver-art-museum-january-7-1933
  49. https://photographydatabase.org/exhibitions/view/6426/an-enduring-grace-the-photogr
  50. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28015/28015-h/28015-h.html
  51. https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2022/08/through-the-lens-of-laura-gilpin/
  52. https://davidcookgalleries.com/collections/artist-laura-gilpin-1891-1979
  53. https://www.cartermuseum.org/collection/susan-allen-director-public-relations-national-cowboy-hall-fame-and-western-heritage-0
  54. https://secretary.unm.edu/awards/honorary_degrees/
  55. https://artsawards.newmexicoculture.org/search.php?type=name
  56. https://www.gf.org/fellows?page=113
  57. https://glreview.org/article/short-reviews-60/
  58. https://www.cartermuseum.org/artists/laura-gilpin/archives
  59. https://ccp.arizona.edu/artists/laura-gilpin/
  60. https://nmwa.org/exhibitions/new-ground/
  61. https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Gilpin-Enduring-Martha-Sandweiss/dp/0883600773
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.